News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Due to concerns over COVID-19, the Town of Livingston is exploring ways to postpone its June 3 election.
Overton County Election Administrator Craig Story said one option is to move the ballot to a later election.
“Last week the Election Commission held a meeting, and we discussed that pretty extensively,” Story said. “The Election Commission voted that they wanted to begin to get that election moved, hopefully in conjunction with August.”
Approval to move an election, Story said, is a process that will likely have to go through the courts.
“It’s my understanding that a judge would have to be the one to ultimately decide that,” Story said. “It would involve petitioning the court to go ahead and move that election to a later date.”
Livingston’s June election includes an uncontested Mayor’s election and four people running for three alderman seats.
Story said mail ballots may be an option for some people, but there are limits on who can absentee vote.
“State law is going to dictate how absentee by mail balloting goes,” Story said. “We are going to encourage those who are eligible to get an absentee ballot by mail, and that may be something they strongly consider.”
If the election has to go ahead as planned in June, Story said there are ways to limit person-to-person contact.
“We can limit the number of people coming into the building at any one time,” Story said. “We can put tape down on the floor and ask people to stand at certain marks, but that doesn’t necessarily eliminate the chance of someone being exposed.
Story said some of the dangers in holding an election during a pandemic are similar to the worries we have every day, but election officials are working to minimize the risks.
“We’re working toward making everything as safe as possible and trying to make sure that everybody that is eligible to vote has a chance to vote ,” Story said. “We’re in uncharted territory, and we’re going to have to look at options and do the best we can.”
